Story+1985-09-13+Dallas,+TX

´´This is about, uh, dropping through the safety net....”
 * 13.09.85 Dallas, TX, intro to ´Johnny 99´**

´´ On the first part of our American tour....we were down here in Texas....now, when....we were in Houston I met a lot of folks that come down from up north....they came out of Pittsburg, out of the Monongahela Valley....where they shut the steel mills down....came out of Ohio....out of Gary, Indiana....all heading south looking for work....in the oil fields or in the oil refineries....and when they got down there, the price of oil dropped....they couldn´t find jobs....they were left with nothing to do, no place to go....they´d be sleeping in tents out on the side of the highway....or sleeping in their cars at night.....this is called ´Seeds´....”
 * 13.09.85 Dallas, TX, intro to ´Seeds´**

´´Alright, how you doing out there, ok ? (cheers)....nice to be back in Texas.....oh, when I was....when I was growing up, my old man used to have this trick that he used to play on me ...he used to sit in the kitchen at night with all the lights out....drinking some beer and smoking a cigarette....he would lock up the frontdoor so that I´d have to come in around the back, he´d always know what time I was coming in....and, uh....I can remember if he´d been sitting there a little too long....there´d always end up being some trouble between us....and I was just about, I was about 17, I guess and I had real long hair, like down to my shoulders.... and he hated it, he couldn´t stand it, we used to fight about it all the time.....and I can remember I´d stand out there in the driveway and I´d like slick it back and tuck it way down inside my collar so he couldn´t tell exactly how long it was....and I´d look through the screendoor and see the light of his cigarette....and I´d put my collar up and....get my nerve up and get up on the porch....open the door, get through the kitchen....I´d get into the livingroom and my mother´d always be, uh, asleep in front of the TV with those pink curlers that ladies all used to wear (chuckles)....big flowers on her slippers, she used to (chuckles)....and I´d just about get my, get my foot on the bottom step and I´d think ´Oh, I made it´ and I´d hear from the kitchen: ´Bruuuce´....he´d be calling me to come back and sit down with him....and I´d go back and I´d sit across the table....and we couldn´t ever see each other....and we´d sit there for 10 or 15 minutes and he´d always ask me the same question, ´What do you think you´re doing with yourself ?´....and uh....I guess the problem was that, uh, I never knew how to explain it to him, you know....it was like, uh, like that song used to say, it´s like trying to tell a stranger about rock´n´roll....and uh.....but I didn´t understand what he was doing with himself either, you know, when I was young it was hard to understand....the pressures that he had on him....when he was out of work....and how hard it was to try and raise a family and feel....like you were failing at it....but uh, we get along ok now, you know (chuckles)(cheers) ....he even listens to a little bit of rock´n´roll (chuckles)....I guess I listen to him a lot better too so...but this is a song about, uh....about living your whole life in the shadow of a dream ...”
 * 13.09.85 Dallas, TX, intro to ´The River´**

´´Yeah, thanks....this, this is a song about, uh, relationships....uh, is there anybody out there like with a new boyfriend or a new girlfriend ? (cheers)...is there anybody out there married ? (cheers)....you guys are both gonna know what I´m talking about....you know how it when you first meet somebody, like everything they say is brilliant and they look beautiful all the time and....you know if you wanna go out to the movies, like, ´Oh honey, what movie would you like to go see ?´ ´Oh honey, I don´t care whatever you wanna go see´....you know, ´I don´t care if we, uh, stay home tonight just as long as I´m with you´....you know, making love all the time....two or three times a day....and you tell her that you love her and she says ´Yeah but I bet you used to say that to your other girlfriends´ and you say ´Yeah but this time I really mean it´....yeah, then you guys putting on that aftershave and shaving real close all the time and the girls putting the perfume, you know, in other places besides behind your ears, you know....yeah, but then, but then if you come back like about six months or a year later, you know, it´s like ´Are we going out or do I have to sit around here and look at your face all night long ?´....´Are we gonna make love tonight or do we have to wait for the full moon again ?´....I don´t know, why´s that happen, you know, jeez....anyway (chuckles).... anyway, it all comes down to, uh....”
 * 13.09.85 Dallas, TX, intro to ´I´m Goin´Down´**

´´There´s all sorts of those little grasshoppers on the stage here...is that a Texas grasshopper? ...are they, uh, are they homicidal or anything ?...are they dangerous ?....is their sting lethal ? ...oh, good, then let me sit down....things like this shake me up now, you know, like...you get a little older and....everything scares you, you know....like, I´m 35 now, man....oh yeah, that´s old, that´s....well, now, the Big Man, he´s, uh, uh....I can tell....he´s 44....impossible to believe....somehow he always maintains his youthful beauty....yeah, man, anybody else, who else, who else is our age out there, anybody ? (cheers)....alright, alright, I don´t feel so bad now....man, you get older, you know, and everything hurts, like, when I lay down in bed at night, you know....and like I always sleep with my guitar....my wife at first she didn´t like it but she got used to it....you gotta take the whole package, you know, oh....yeah, damn.... anyway....this is a song about old times....I mean it´s about, it´s about, it´s about time´s winged chariot....it´s about how in the end....it all ain´t nothing but glory days....”
 * 13.09.85 Dallas, TX, intro to ´Glory Days´**

´´Thanks....oh, thank you....when I was growing up, I always remember....kind of having a love-hate-relationship with the place that I was born....I remember being 17, 18 and not being able to....said ´Man, when I get a chance to get out of here....I´m gonna go and I ain´t ever gonna come back´....and uh....I grew up kind of in a small town.....it was narrowminded, pretty small-minded a lot of times....not too forgiving (chuckles)....but uh....I did get a chance to get out and I got out and I got on the road and I traveled a lot but I´d always find myself, as I got older, going back home....and uh, I´d get in my car and I´d drive down the streets that I grew up on and I´d....stop outside one of the houses I used to live in and I´d....wonder who lived in there now and if they had any kids....and uh....I guess I got to a point where I realised that no matter where you go....where you come from always stays with you, stays in your blood....like, uh....like every place we go, whenever I mention the name of that place like people always cheer...watch, we´ll give it a shot....Dallas (cheers)....let´s try this, Texas (cheers)....see, what´d I tell you, that works all the time (chuckles)....I guess I got thinking about it and figured that that must mean that people are proud of where they come from.... and uh....if they´re proud of where they come from, it would make sense that they´d wanna do something to make it a better place to live....and tonight we got some folks from the North Texas Foodbank in the audience.....and folks from the foodbanks in Corpus Christi, from Houston-Galveston area....from San Antonio....from Austin... and what a foodbank is is every year 20 percent of all the food that gets produced in the United Statesgets thrown out or wasted....meanwhile in every city, in every state, there´s people going to bed at night hungry, there´s little kids that ain´t getting the right nutritious kind of food, there´s old folks whose social security checks don´t get ´em through the month, they gotta decide whether to buy medicine or buy food for themselves, there´s people that been hit hard by unemployment and uh....they could use a little help....and what a foodbank does is it gets to that food and gets it out to the agencies that serve the people....in a country that´s as rich as ours....it is impossible to understand or tolerate people going to bed at night without enough to eat....(?) we got 33 million people that live at or below the poverty line...and it´s really a shame on all of us....what these foodbanks are out there doing is they´re....to make your town, your city, your state a better and a more decent place for all of its citizens...so they´re out there every day making some of these ideas that I´m singing about up here tonight a reality in people´s lives and without them what I´m doing up here is just a bunch of words....so if you believe that rock´n´roll can change people´s lives even a little bit for the better....yeah....tonight when you go out into the lobby you´ll see the phone number of all these different organizations and if you have some time, give ´em a call, they can use volunteers, they can use some support.... the foodbank here in Dallas right now is trying to buy a big refridgrated truck so if there´s anything you can do to help them out, I´d appreciate it and they´d appreciate it and in the end ....this is your hometown so do something about it....”
 * 13.09.85 Dallas, TX, intro to ´My Hometown´**

´´I always remember....when I was a kid....my folks working so hard all the time....my bedroom was out over the backyard....every morning, six a.m, I can remember hearing my dad....raising the hood on one of the old cars he bought....laying on the cold ground trying to get it started to get to work....I always remember my mom going down....down to the finance man ....borrowing money for Christmas and getting it paid back just in time to borrow money for Easter...getting it paid back just in time to borrow money for school clothes for us....and on and on....but it never seemed like....she never let on it bothered her...but I remember how it bothered my Pop.....he´d sit around thinking about everything we wasn´t ever gonna have ...until he´d get me thinking like that too....I´d lay up in bed at night thinking how if something didn´t happen....that if something didn´t change....feeling like I was just gonna.... like someday I´d just.....like I was just gonna....feeling like I was just.....like I was just gonna ....feeling like I was just gonna....”
 * 13.09.85 Dallas, TX, intro to ´I´m on Fire´**

´´Temptation !...do you know what I´m talking about ? (cheers)....temptation....this is a song about conflict....between worldly things and spiritual health.... between desires of the flesh, and I´m talking about sexual desire....and spiritual ecstasy .... now, where did that conflict begin ? ....well, it began in the beginning in a place called the Garden of Eden....have you heard about it ? (cheers)....I´d like to bring out one of the world´s foremost biblical scholars ....to help me with this sermon....now, the Garden of Eden was originally believed to have been located in Mesopotamia, that´s what this is....but the latest theological studies have found out that its actual location was....that´s right, ten miles south of Jersey City, off the New Jersey Turnpike....and that, ladies and gentlemen, is why they call it the Garden State ! ....but now understand, in the Garden of Eden, man, there were none of the accoutrements of modern living....you couldn´t go home at night, put the little Pop-Tarts in the toaster, get the ham and cheese out of the refridgerator, jump in the sack with your baby and watch David Letterman ....no, Sir !....you couldn´t go out on to the highway and buy a cheeseburger if you wanted one....hell no !....in the Garden of Eden there was no sin.... there was no sex....man lived in a state of innocence.....now, when it comes to no sex, I prefer the state of guilt that I constantly live in....oh, man, in the Garden of Eden there were many wonderous things : there was a Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, got everybody in trouble....there was a man, Adam, there was a woman, Eve and she looked so fine and when Adam kissed her, it was the first time that a man had ever kissed a woman.....and she had legs that were long and soft to the touch....and when Adam touched her, it was the first time that a man had ever touched a woman....and then she touched him.....and it was the first time that a woman had ever touched a man.....and he snuggled up real close to her and he said ´Oh, Evie, I love you, baby´ ....and they went walking out into the green fields and they lay down....and when Adam.... well, let´s just say it was the first time for that too....but there was something else in the Garden of Eden on that day, that´s right, old Satan came slithering up on his belly and somehow he turned their sweet love into a betrayal and sent them driving down into the darkness below....but that´s alright because right here tonight on this backlot, for 99.95 and no money down, don´t worry if you´ve got bad credit, it´s good here, we´ll finance, we´ll take a chance on you.....if you´ve got the nerve to ride....I´ve got the keys to their getaway car.... the first....pink... Cadillac ...”
 * 13.09.85 Dallas, TX, intro to ´Pink Cadillac´**

´´Thanks....oh, it´s funny, tonight on the way down here....we passed the first place that.... we were supposed to play in Dallas, a place called the Sport Auditorium....do they still have wrestling there ? (cheers)(chuckles)....but uh, I guess I´d like to take a minute and thank everybody for coming down to the show tonight....I know that a lot of youse traveled a long distance and I wanna thank all you folks from Houston, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Austin ....(?) anybody out there from Liberty Hall who supported us in the early days when we first came down here ten years ago....I´d like to let you know we appreciate it....and thanks for having the faith....I´d like to, uh, I´d like to do a song for you, now I guess it´s about the greatest song that´s ever been written about America....it´s, uh, it´s an old song but it seems like it sure still needs to be sung....today more than ever....it´s a song by Woody Guthrie.... and, uh, I guess what´s so great about is it gets, it gets right to the heart of what the promise of our country was supposed to be about....and that´s a promise, as we sit here tonight, it´s a promise that´s eroding for many of our fellow Americans every day....I don´t think if you talk to the....steelworkers from the Monongahela Valley, Gary, Indiana, East Los Angeles....I don´t know if they believe that this song is true any more....and I´m not sure that it is but I know that it ought to be....so, uh....and I know that it´s up to each and every one of us somehow....to make it ....a little bit more true every day....so it´s kind of in your lap, mine too (chuckles)...but uh....anyway, I´d like to do this for you....reminding you that with countries, just like with people, it´s easy to let the best of yourself slip away....”
 * 13.09.85 Dallas, TX, intro to ´This Land Is Your Land´**

´´...this man just took off his leg, wait a minute (chuckles)....hold it on up, man.....wait a second....this man took that last song too literally....but he gets a song....´Traveling Band´, key of E, ´Traveling Band´....”
 * 13.09.85 Dallas, TX, intro to ´Traveling Band´ (following ´Stand on It´)**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//